Social communication encompasses the “rules” of social interactions, such as initiating a conversation, turn-taking, and using nonverbal cues. Children who struggle with social communication may have a hard time making friends, playing with others, and navigating social situations such as play dates, recess, birthday parties and family gatherings.

Social Communication Skills Include:

• Greeting others • Using eye contact • Initiating an interaction • Understanding and using non-verbal cues like posture, facial expression, tone of voice and gestures • Comprehending implied meaning • Respecting personal space • Engaging in conversation, including asking questions, listening and offering relevant responses • Knowing how much information is enough to communicate something; avoiding over-explaining or repeating oneself • Being able to “read a room” and adjust behavior to fit the situation (when in a library, behavior is calm and voice is quiet) • Playing games, including following rules and taking turns • Participating in cooperative tasks, including offering relevant ideas, considering differing points of view, and teamwork • Asking for help and persisting when not heard or understood • Using humor appropriately • Imagining something from another’s perspective; thinking about how our actions affect others

How ICT Can Help

Social communication is at the heart of every intervention we offer. Our play-based approach to treating a wide-range of speech, language and social challenges depends on a warm relationship between each child and his or her therapist. Within the context of this relationship, children engage in meaningful back-and-forth that builds their social communication skills.

When children are ready, we use social groups to help them gain the confidence to navigate the social world. You can find information about our social groups here and our camps here .